


texas is a landlocked state

by spencersleftnostril



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: ?? kinda, Alternate Universe - College/University, Background Relationships, Character's Name Spelled as Bertholdt, College Dorm mates, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, Minor Armin Arlert/Eren Yeager, Minor NSFW, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, maybe smut later on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:49:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28394169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spencersleftnostril/pseuds/spencersleftnostril
Summary: of course, mikasa hadn’t expected the school to let her room with eren again. she only managed last year because they’re family.still, she was disappointed when she saw he wasn’t with her. even more so when she realized who was. annie leonhart.---mikannie college au where they are dorm mates. that's it lol.
Relationships: Mikasa Ackerman/Annie Leonhart, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 96





	texas is a landlocked state

**Author's Note:**

> something about how annie was so calm, her legs crossed under her and her brows furrowing as she’d encountered an interesting line made mikasa want to go over there and snatch the book straight out of her hands. she didn’t understand why she was so upset, but in that moment she thought she’d never been more annoyed by someone before. 
> 
> title from texas reznikoff by mitski

of course, mikasa hadn’t expected the school to let her room with eren again. she only managed last year because they’re family. 

still, she was disappointed when she saw he wasn’t with her. even more so when she realized who was. annie leonhart. 

mikasa had her fair share of run-ins with annie. they went to high school together, competed over everything from sports to grades. their rivalry was somewhat legendary at their school, with kids placing bets on who would score higher on tests, or win a game of softball. however, in senior year, she grew tired of constantly trying to one up someone else, so she gave up. 

but seeing her here now, in her dorm room? it felt like all that drive from freshman year was coming right back. 

mikasa knew better than to start conflict for no reason. she wasn’t a kid anymore, and it was clear annie didn’t care about their rivalry anymore. so she decided she’d have to live with it. 

placing her bags on her bed, she started unpacking. she glanced over to where annie was laying on her own bed, reading. her bags were still closed on the floor, and the bed covers roughly stretched out. she tried to make out the title of her book, but the text was too small for mikasa to see. at the foot of the bed lay her jacket, messily folded and hanging off the side. she never took annie to be the messy type. then again, she never took annie to be anything other than someone she needed to be better than.

mikasa didn’t realize she was staring until annie cleared her throat.

“can i help you?” she asked, sounding irritated that she was disturbed from her reading.

“oh. sorry.” mikasa turned away, continuing to pull her things from her bags. she could hear annie sigh behind her, and the sound made her skin crawl. it seemed that everything annie did got on her nerves. 

she took a look around. their dorm was small, barely enough space for two people to live comfortably. both beds were against the opposite wall to the door, a singular window just above the headboards. in between two beds was a nightstand with a single lamp and an alarm clock. there was one drawer. nearer to the door were two simple desks with a wooden chair each. they didn’t look particularly sturdy, but enough to sit at, she supposed. behind her bed was a dresser, intended for her personal belongings. 

after she’d put away her clothes and made her bed, mikasa placed her bags on the floor and took a seat. she looked over again at annie, still immersed in her book. 

something about how annie was so calm, her legs crossed under her and her brows furrowing as she’d encountered an interesting line made mikasa want to go over there and snatch the book straight out of her hands. she didn’t understand why she was so upset, but in that moment she thought she’d never been more annoyed by someone before. 

“you haven’t changed.” she said, leaning back against her pillows.

annie snorted. it made mikasa’s blood boil. “and you have?” 

mikasa didn’t respond, instead checking her phone. “just because you cut your hair and got rid of that scarf doesn’t mean you’re not the same.”

she was right. mikasa was the same. she was still the jealous little girl from 7th grade, desperate to have people like her but not knowing at all why they don’t. but annie was the same too. it was obvious she was trying to rile mikasa up, just as she had all those years. she remembered all the times she came home battered and bruised from school, satisfied that she had at least brought annie down with her. 

looking to annie once more, she tried to forget high school. 

***

living with annie wasn’t as bad as mikasa had thought. even though she never really cleaned her part of the dorm, annie never touched mikasa’s things, and she rarely spoke too. it was a comfortable situation, almost feeling like she lived alone sometimes. annie was off at her job at the starbucks down the street when she wasn’t at school, coming only really to sleep at night. mikasa had their dorm to herself most of the time.

after a few weeks, annie finally properly unpacked. when mikasa came home from her class, she noticed some pictures on the wall and a guitar. she was never really one for snooping, but she was intrigued to learn something about annie. 

leaning over annie’s bed, she saw a few photos of annie with her friends from high school, reiner and bertholdt. the three of them were always together, even though annie always seemed distant from the other two. 

she was smiling in the photos, something mikasa had never seen her do. it made the pit of her stomach burn, like she had swallowed fire. 

she looked to the guitar. on the sides were hand drawn flowers and signatures. she could read a few names, but none that she recognized. mikasa never would’ve guessed annie had so many friends.

she felt a twinge of guilt for how little she knew about annie. they’ve been in school together since they were 14, and the only things mikasa had ever thought about her were how to beat her. she wondered if annie ever took dance classes, if she had scars on her knees from falling off her bike. had she ever been to a sleepover? danced in her room alone, music blasting? maybe she had her heart broken by a boy in middle school, and cried herself to sleep over it for weeks. 

mikasa frowned. why did she want to know so much about annie? she’d never been one to go out of her way to make friends before, and why her longest standing rival? 

confused, she sat down. 

***

when annie came home that day, mikasa was overwhelmed with the urge to ask her about the things on her wall. 

she sat on her bed, nervously tapping her nails on her phone case while annie was showering. she’d never felt this way just over asking someone a question and she was almost certain she was going to throw up. 

the door of their dorm room opened, and in walked annie in her pyjamas and her hair down. mikasa had only ever seen her with her hair up in a bun, so the first time she’d taken it down she looked like a different person.

watching annie make her way to her bed and put her clothes away, mikasa was trying to formulate her words. they never spoke about anything personal, so she wasn’t sure how to ask.

annie eventually sat across from her and looked her in the eye. “what is it?”

mikasa opened her mouth to speak, but the words wouldn’t come out. she looked at the photos on the wall, and annie’s gaze followed. 

“you… those pictures.” she hoped that got her point across.

annie turned back to her, looking confused. she sat stunned for a second, not sure what to say. she’d never expect for mikasa to bring up her decor.

“reiner and bertholdt… do you still talk to them?” mikasa rushed through her sentence, stumbling a little over the words.

“not really. they’ll come to the cafe sometimes.”

“oh.” mikasa wasn’t really sure how to continue. she was hoping this would prompt annie to talk more about herself. trying to find a way to get some other conversation going. “you play guitar? and the signatures… i don’t recognize them.”

annie turned away to look back at her guitar. “yeah, i’ve played since middle school. i got this guitar when i was 11. the signatures are from my old friends, before i moved.” mikasa was sure she saw the ghost of a smile on annie’s face at the thought of her old home.

mikasa sat looking at annie, waiting for her to say more. the two of them made eye contact for a second, before annie got up. “what’s with the questions of a sudden?”

leaning back onto her pillows, she watched as annie stood in front of her dresser, not really doing anything. it seemed as though she just didn’t want to face mikasa, but she never really thought of annie of being shy.

“i just think that if we’re going to spend this whole term together maybe we should… know a little more about each other?” 

annie laughed, and turned around to face mikasa again, a small smile present. “so. what about you? what made you take off the scarf?”

**Author's Note:**

> first time writing just abt anything in almost a year. covid's been kicking my ass so it took me a week to write just this. uhhh expect updates... sometime in the future...


End file.
